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Throughout the process, a father and son mining team has been keeping a close eye on the progress of this $1 billion-plus investment. Sedgman Team leader for Process, Dale Hoffmann, spoke to InvestorTV about his family’s history at the Dawson site.
“My father worked in the preparation plant, the old preparation plant, for the best part of 30 years,” Dale says.
“I was born and raised in Moura, went through schooling in Moura, went away to university, joined an engineering company in the coal industry and 10 years later, had the opportunity to design the new preparation plant to enhance or upgrade the old one.
“I think the total investment was in the order of $1.2 billion, but that included infrastructure work on the mine site outside of the TSJV scope, and the new trucking fleet.
“The TSJV scope was slightly over $500 million and the CHPP area of that, with overland conveyors, made up that money. The prep plant itself was in the order of $130-135 million”, Dale says.
With the plant approaching practical completion, Dale’s father Barry returned to the site where he spent the majority of his working life.
“With the old plant, I started here in 1968. After 37 years, 10 months and 2 days I retired (and) left the new plant to be built,” Barry says.
“The old place had been going for 44 years and I suppose it was time to retire it. The new plant, I don’t think, will have the character the old pant had, but I dare say the new plant’s got plenty of potential, a lot of tonnes it’ll put out.”
In fact the new plant, when operating at full capacity, will have the potential to deliver production increases of up to 66 per cent over its predecessor. Where the old plant could typically produce 12 million tonnes per annum, the 2007 version has a potential throughput of 20 million tonnes per annum.
Justifiably, both the Hoffmann men have taken immense pride in the development of the new facility.
“Just to watch it come from the ground up with somebody so close that had designed it and had a lot of input into it, it was great to be able to do that. With Dale doing his schooling here in Moura he can stand up in front of all his mates and say ‘Hey, I’ve done this’, so (I’m) definitely proud of the job he’s done,” Barry says.
Prodigal son Dale said he also derived a great deal of satisfaction from the project.
“Both being involved in one of the biggest preparation plants in Australia, but also being able to do it in my home town, involvement here on site, backwards and forwards and catching up with a few people, it’s been quite a remarkable pleasure”.
“My father worked in the preparation plant, the old preparation plant, for the best part of 30 years,” Dale says.
“I was born and raised in Moura, went through schooling in Moura, went away to university, joined an engineering company in the coal industry and 10 years later, had the opportunity to design the new preparation plant to enhance or upgrade the old one.
“I think the total investment was in the order of $1.2 billion, but that included infrastructure work on the mine site outside of the TSJV scope, and the new trucking fleet.
“The TSJV scope was slightly over $500 million and the CHPP area of that, with overland conveyors, made up that money. The prep plant itself was in the order of $130-135 million”, Dale says.
With the plant approaching practical completion, Dale’s father Barry returned to the site where he spent the majority of his working life.
“With the old plant, I started here in 1968. After 37 years, 10 months and 2 days I retired (and) left the new plant to be built,” Barry says.
“The old place had been going for 44 years and I suppose it was time to retire it. The new plant, I don’t think, will have the character the old pant had, but I dare say the new plant’s got plenty of potential, a lot of tonnes it’ll put out.”
In fact the new plant, when operating at full capacity, will have the potential to deliver production increases of up to 66 per cent over its predecessor. Where the old plant could typically produce 12 million tonnes per annum, the 2007 version has a potential throughput of 20 million tonnes per annum.
Justifiably, both the Hoffmann men have taken immense pride in the development of the new facility.
“Just to watch it come from the ground up with somebody so close that had designed it and had a lot of input into it, it was great to be able to do that. With Dale doing his schooling here in Moura he can stand up in front of all his mates and say ‘Hey, I’ve done this’, so (I’m) definitely proud of the job he’s done,” Barry says.
Prodigal son Dale said he also derived a great deal of satisfaction from the project.
“Both being involved in one of the biggest preparation plants in Australia, but also being able to do it in my home town, involvement here on site, backwards and forwards and catching up with a few people, it’s been quite a remarkable pleasure”.
